Saturday, September 15, 2012

The lost memo on banning foreign medical trips for Nigerian public officers

In April, Nigeria’s Minister of Health, Professor Onyebuchi
Chukwu made a bold announcement that he is considering sending a memo to the
Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting to ban public officers going abroad for
medical treatment.

President Goodluck Jonathan

It is not clear if this memo was ever sent to the FEC. Perhaps, next time the media meets with the
honourable Minister, they have to remind him of his lost memo. Hopefully, he
will not be embarrassed answering the question considering the President’s wife
is currently said to be on a medical trip abroad.

Obviously, despite billions spent, the health facilities in
Aso Rock are still not comparable to health facilities in Germany, Saudi Arabia
and all the other places staff and residents of Aso Rock fly to at the
slightest sign of head or belly ache.

In the last five years, from 2008 to 2012, a total of N4.15
billion has been spent by the Presidency to provide healthcare facilities in
Aso Rock. Going by the nature and amount
of expenditure, the State House Medical Centre (SHMC) should be one of the best
equipped hospitals in the world.

Drugs and medical supplies bought for the SHMC in Aso Rock
consumed N1.69 billion in the last five years. In this year’s budget, the
Presidency made a provision of N314 million for drugs and medical supplies.
This was just 21% below the N402 million spent in 2011.

The presidency also spent N901 million purchasing different
medical equipment in the last five years. The SHMC should be one of the best equipped
medical centres for dialysis, considering the items bought in the last five
years.

In 2008, for example, the Presidency spent about N6.8
million on the provision of a dialysis centre. It also spent N127 million on
procurement of equipment for a medical laboratory, dental laboratory,
physiotherapy, pharmacy, surgical, O&G, paediatrics, and ophthalmology.

The 2012 budget shows that the presidency spent about N93
million on a Dialog+Haemodialysis machine with an option for automatic blood
pressure measurement. It also bought a Diapact CRRT (whatever that means), an acute
dialysis machine, a modular one water reverse osmosis system (for up to 10
dialysis machine with pre-treatment) a comfort therapy dialysis chair, and a bedside
table for dialysis chair

The Presidency also spent some money on a central sterilizing
building for the State House Medical Centre and also bought a magnetic resonance
imaging machine, and converted an existing mortuary(?) into an MRI room, offices,
conveniences, medical records and common room for its medical officers.

But while the State House Medical Centre has been equipped
with the state of the art medical facilities, which unfortunately fail to meet
the medical needs of its exotic occupants, the non-exotic Nigerian on the
street is faced daily with poorly equipped hospitals plagued by strikes from
frustrated medical personal and lack of drugs.

While rich Nigerians can afford a trip abroad to take care of
their headaches and other medical issues, the many poor die daily from commonly
preventable diseases. Life expectancy in Nigeria at 48 years ranks among the
lowest in the world, comparable only to war torn countries. The chance of a
child born in Nigeria celebrating his fifth birthday is one of the lowest in
the world. The Nigerian child is seven times more likely to die before the age
of five than an Egyptian Child and twice more likely to die than a Ghanaian
Child.

Nigerians, who can afford it, spend an average of $200 million
yearly travelling abroad to seek medical treatment. Basically, they are
spending this money to escape death.

However, it should be unacceptable that a public officer,
spends public money, that should have gone into providing medical facilities
locally, to go abroad for medical treatment for common ailments. This is double jeopardy for the
ordinary Nigerian.

This is why the Minister’s memo to ban public officers
spending public funds for foreign medical treatment is important.
Unfortunately, that memo will remain lost in transit if the President, who is
to approve the memo, has his wife abroad undergoing treatment for “belly ache”
despite the state of the art medical facilities in Aso Rock.

About Me

I write a lot about money, companies that make money and those that lose them. Also write about those who want to buy companies, raise fresh capital and can tell when a company is making money or throwing it away just by looking at its annual report. I also simplify economic and financial terms for a mass audience.

I have several years experience as a Financial Journalist writing for BusinessDay (Nigeria), mergermarket, (a subsidiary in the FT Group) and offering regular commentary on business and economic issues on BBC World Service. I am currently pursuing a masters programme in Financial Journalism at the University of Stirling in the UK. I consult on strategic corporate communications, a combination of investor, external, internal and digital communications.